In an internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) network, in order to improve the reliability and increase the available link bandwidth, load sharing technology is often used. The specific application scenario of the load sharing technology is: after the flow of a data packet reaches a transmitted network forwarding device, one path is selected from multiple available paths according to a per-flow rule or a per-packet rule, and a corresponding data packet is forwarded to another downstream device.
The load sharing is divided into per-flow load sharing and per-packet load sharing, and the per-flow load sharing is generally adopted, in this way, all data packets of one data flow are received sequentially at a destination end without disorder may be guaranteed, and a normal service function may be guaranteed.
When performing the per-flow load sharing, the existing network forwarding device generally performs the selecting of a load sharing path for the identified packet protocol type by using a fixed flow characteristic element field method and a configurable load sharing algorithm based on a single board/an interface, on the basis that the protocol type of the packet may be identified.
Although the IP technology field has been developed for over 30 years, it is still a technical field which develops rapidly, due to the strong expansibility thereof, new protocols and new packet types endlessly emerge. In this way, the condition that the update of the online network forwarding device fails to keep pace with the development of the new protocols often exists, it is reflected in that the old online network forwarding device does not know the new packet protocol type and may only degrade to a cognitive degree to select a flow characteristic element field in the load sharing field, thus the condition of uneven load sharing under the flow-by-flow condition is often generated resulting from improper selection of the flow characteristic element field.